Review: Fast and Furious 6

I love the Fast and Furious movies. I've been hooked ever since the second one. Although I really liked the first effort, the 2 Fast 2 Furious had the right combination of fast cars and stunts, light-hearted humor, and a certain self-awareness that makes for an enjoyable movie. The series tried to go back to a serious note with the fourth installment, but returned to form in Fast Five. What I loved about the fifth movie was that it became a who's who of Fast and Furious cast members--all your favorites were back for the latest adventure. Not only did they bring back all the best cast members, they added the Rock--the perfect addition to the Fast cast. Well, the latest installment in this phenomenal hexalogy is here and it continues along the same trajectory as the fifth movie.

Fast 6 follows the same group of your favorite Fast and Furious teammates as they try to catch an international criminal with a penchant for driving fast cars through crowded cities. The team is enlisted by the Rock in order help take down the mastermind and his crew. Sound crazy? Who cares! It's the perfect set up for intense car chases and lots of explosions. Your favorite cast is back and better than ever. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker deliver terrible dialog but you love them for it. Ludacris and Tyrese are very funny--especially Tyrese as the wise cracking always hungry team member. Han and Gisele provide some additional funny lines and moments. And the Rock is just perfect as usual. If you've enjoyed seeing this team interact in the last movies, then you're going to love them in this.

And it wouldn't be a Fast and Furious movie without some great fights and car chases. They're expertly done with some really amazing driving and imaginative chase scenes. One thing that I really appreciated about this movie is that it feels like most of the action scenes are true action scenes. I've noticed a lot of obvious and distracting CG on TV and in movies but I didn't notice it here. I'm sure that it's used, but from what I saw it looked and felt like legit action with old school stunts. Also, the fighting was excellently choreographed and even had plenty of funny and exciting moments that had the audience cheering. Look, the Fast and Furious movies aren't perfect films, but they're perfect at what they do. They're B-movies with A-list production values. And they're one of the few Hollywood franchises that seems to be getting better with each iteration. This sequel was exactly what I wanted from the Fast and Furious franchise.

See it.PS - There IS a stinger right before the credits roll. Make sure to stay for it!